Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category

“She has the happy knack of picking herself up and making lemonade out of the lemons life throws at her.”
Sunday evening. I am sat behind the wheel of my car, a link in a chain of chrome and steel worming along the N77 between Durrow and Abbeyleix. A flurry of snow has once again [...]

ALONE, the charity that supports older people to maintain independent living in their own homes, has welcomed the Government’s recently published ‘Housing Options for Our Ageing Population’ report. Getting older people to downsize and move into smaller housing units to free up larger properties that are unused fully is a challenge that the Government is [...]

By John O' Connor. Published on Thursday, February 28th, 2019 at 2:40 pm

On Friday, May 24th, people in Waterford city and county will go to the polls where they will be asked to cast their votes on four separate matters.There will be the European Elections to choose our MEPs, the Local Elections to choose our City and County councillors and two referenda. One will be to determine [...]

By Kieran Foley. Published on Thursday, February 28th, 2019 at 2:39 pm

The decline in its fishing industry has presented a dramatic change for communities along the Waterford Estuary
PICTURESQUE Passage East is undoubtedly one of the many jewels in Waterford’s elaborate crown. Unfortunately, Passage has faced many of the issues which are replicated in rural communities throughout Ireland.However, Passage’s plight has been compounded by the decimation [...]

By Dermot Keyes. Published on Thursday, February 28th, 2019 at 2:36 pm

(Part Two):
The National Planning Framework (NPF) is, by and large, a laudable document. Like many previously published Government reports, it’s Himalayan in aspiration, but the proof of the pudding will, as always, be in the eating. Come 2040, by which time this report will have nominally fulfilled its primary objectives, it will be of [...]

By Kieran Walsh. Published on Thursday, February 28th, 2019 at 2:32 pm

In recent months, we have heard a lot of negative news on Brexit and the potential danger to the food industry, notably to beef and cheddar cheese exports to Britain.With the potential extension of Article 50 being widely speculated upon as we went to press, the pervasive sense of chaos about the UK’s exit from [...]

By John O' Connor. Published on Friday, February 22nd, 2019 at 3:13 pm

As we in Waterford wait anxiously to see whether or not we will get matching funds from the government to extend our airport runway, our friends at Knock Airport can relax now that it has been announced that they are to get 75 per cent of finance (€8.4m) for their €11.2m runway upgrade.
Preparatory work [...]

The newly established Déise Circle Support Group is aimed at providing support to families, partners and friends of adults with autism.
Déise Circle Support Group is a new support group for families, partners and friends of adults with autism. Rather than focusing on the individual themselves, the idea behind the establishment of the group [...]

The Southern Regional Assembly’s Draft Economic Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES), which is linked into the Project Ireland 2040 policy (embracing the National Development Plan), identifies 14 key towns in the Southern Region.
To the recent incredulity of South Kilkenny Councillors, Kilkenny features under such a heading (topping the list in population terms), despite the city [...]

On Thursday last, we attended the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade launch, the theme of which this year will be ‘SOS: Save Our Seas’ given the local, national and international concern being expressed about the level of plastic that’s being dumped and deposited in our waterways. The pollution of our seas, rivers and lakes are now [...]